Aizu Michitoki
会津道辰 (Aizu Michitoki)
Lineage: the signature does not state the generation
Lineage of Aizu smiths in Mutsu who signed Michitoki from the late 17th century to the end of the Edo period.
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Michitoki (道辰), sometimes read Michitatsu, is the name signed by several generations of smiths in Aizu, Mutsu province, from the late 17th century until the close of the Edo period. Aizu tradition places them in the Nakajō (中条) family, whose founder came to Aizu as a pupil of Miyoshi Nagakuni (三善長国). The first to sign Michitoki trained under the first Miyoshi Nagamichi (三善長道) and set up an independent branch in the Genroku era (1688–1704), which is why the line is counted within the Aizu Nagamichi school, as its best-known branch. It lasted five or six generations, depending on the source, in the service of the Aizu domain. One of them taught Kaku Motooki (角元興), who went on to study with Suishinshi Masahide (水心子正秀); school tradition holds that the last generation in turn studied with Motooki. Typical signatures read 陸奥会津住藤原道辰 (Mutsu Aizu-jū Fujiwara Michitoki). Known blades range from restrained suguha to nie-based gunome midare mixed with chōji, and the line is cited among the representative makers of naginata-hi.
Swords available
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Mutsu Aizu-jū Fujiwara Michitatsu
Shinshintō blade from the Aizu domain, signed and dated in the autumn of Bunsei 8 (1825), with a koshirae stated to be of the period. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon. Katana by the fourth generation of Mutsu Aizu-jū Fujiwara Michitatsu, a smith in the service of the Aizu domain. The line begins with a pupil of Miyoshi Michinaga and runs to six generations, reaching the end of the Edo period. This fourth Michitatsu learned Sōshū-den from Kaku Motooki, who had in turn learned it from Oku Motohira in Satsuma. The blade is signed and dated to the autumn of Bunsei 8 (1825); it measures 69.9 cm nagasa with 1 cm sori and 0.8 cm of thickness at the base. The temper is a gunome with pointed peaks and abundant sunagashi. It is sold with a koshirae that the original seller states to be of the period (時代拵付き, jidai-koshirae tsuki), adding that it appears to have been made to fit this blade at the time. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers are included.
81.3/100
€10,380
